Diagnosis of Digital Literacy Competence for Preservice Early Childhood Educators

Objectives The purpose of this study is to diagnose the digital literacy competency of pre-service early childhood teachers. Methods For this purpose, a survey was conducted on 245 pre-service early childhood teachers in the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS 21.0(ver.) statistical program, and descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance(ANOVA), and Scheff's post hoc test were performed. Results First, the digital literacy competency level of pre-service early childhood teachers was above average, in-dicating an excellent level. Based on a 5-point scale, the average scores for each variable were in the high 4-point range. Second, the analysis of digital literacy competency differences based on background variables of pre-serv-ice early childhood teachers revealed significant variations, excluding grade. Conclusions To foster digital literacy competency, it suggests that education should not only focus on completing relevant courses or solely rely on instructional methods. Instead, it should take into consideration individual per-sonality traits, psychological factors, and other aspects.